“Rebellious Formations” an exhibition by expatriate Syrian artist Seif al-Din Daoud in Damascus  

The expatriate Syrian plastic artist Saif Al-Din Daoud held his solo plastic art exhibition, entitled of  “Rebellious Formations”,  at Al- Sha’ab art gallery in the city of Damascus.

The exhibition includes 18 paintings of different sizes, with various techniques and styles that varied between modern expressionism and abstraction.

Artist Seif  Daoud told Syria times that “As a Syrian artist living in Germany and residing and working within the German society, I was influenced by the German art which is characterized by modernism and freedom of thinking”.

“My expressionist drawings reflect the contemporary art and modernity in my own way. I am holding my solo exhibition here in Damascus in a new style, as the paintings were drawn specifically to be displayed in this hall”, Daoud said.

“The idea that I want to present is modernity, therefore, I  have chosen the title “Rebellious Formations” for this exhibition because the paintings are strange to the Syrian art and society”.

“The topics of these paintings are not part of our culture, so I tried to draw them in a smooth way  that suits the Eastern community, its traditions and customs”, he said.

He added “I focus on colors techniques and their degrees, as I use one color with its degrees in the same painting, which I believe gives much beauty to the drawings”.

“I painted the faces and movements of people in a different way, as I think the artist’s strength and talent appear in drawing movement from a geometric perspective,” he said.

Secretary of the General Union of Fine Artists in Syria Ghassan Ghanem said that the exhibition is strange and new of its kind.  The paintings are not clear. They are vague formations that leave the viewer read them in his own way.

The plastic artist Saif  Daoud, who lives in German, was born in the  city of Qamishli in 1960. He studied there and obtained his high school diploma in 1978. He completed his high school studies in Damascus in 1982 and he recently obtained a doctorate in petroleum engineering.

Report and photos by :  Nada Haj Khidr